French cleats can be used to hang a cabinet on the wall over a tankless water heater, hiding it with a box hung on the wall. This allows for easy lifting and removal from the wall for service, while maintaining good airflow. Position the tankless water heater near hot water points of use to minimize heat loss in the pipes. Many homeowners prefer to build an enclosure for their regular or tankless models to maintain the aesthetics of their home.
- Install a CO-detector in the “overhang” to detect carbon monoxide.
- Use a curtain to hide water heaters. Measure your space carefully, considering the height of the room and a few inches of space.
- Put insulation under the tankless water heater around the pipes.
- Use pipe covers to enhance indoor or outdoor installations by concealing the piping beneath the water heater.
- Wrap all cold water pipes with a pipe wrap to keep them warmer.
There are several clever ways to hide tankless water heaters and AC units, such as DIY utility meters covers, upcycling repurposed shutters, utility covers, and hiding ugly DIY projects. To create a secure and visually appealing installation, consider using decorative planter boxes, faux rock covers, garden art and sculptures, bamboo or Reed Screens, and pipe wraps. By following these steps, you can ensure a reliable and efficient water heater installation that doesn’t stand out too much.
📹 3 Things to Know about Exterior Tankless & Freezing Weather
Huge thanks to our Show sponsors Builders FirstSource, Polywall, Huber, Rockwool & Viewrail for helping to make these videos …
How to enclose a hot water heater outside?
Enclosing a hot water heater can be a simple and effective solution. Some options include fabric patterns, screens, closets, cabinets, wall-mounted outdoor enclosures, frame-built enclosures, and metal cabinet enclosures. Champion Plumbing offers residential plumbing services, including repair and replacement, and their highly trained technicians handle heaters inside and outside of enclosures. The best option depends on the location of the heater, budget, and safety concerns.
The team at Champion Plumbing can help review hot water heater enclosure ideas and provide recommendations for the best options. Champion Plumbing’s residential plumbing services include repair and replacement, and their technicians can handle heaters inside and outside of enclosures.
How do I protect my outdoor hot water heater?
To prevent freezing of water heaters during winter, follow these tips: install the heater in a warm place, drain it, maintain a power source, consider a recirculation system, and insulate it. Additionally, run a trickle of water to prevent freezing. Old man winter can be harsh on plumbing systems, especially in northern climates where temperatures often dip below freezing. Proper precautions can help prevent freezing and ensure the longevity of your water heater.
Where should a tankless water heater not be installed?
To ensure the safety of your tankless water heater, avoid installing it in areas with high humidity, moisture, or dust, or in areas where it may be splashed with water or liquids. Avoid installing under water pipes or air conditioning lines that may leak or condense moisture, and above electrical boxes or junctions. If installing on a second floor or heated attic space, follow local code requirements.
Consider installing a drip pan below the water heater to prevent property damage in case of a leak, or install an active water leak detector and shut-off valve to turn off the water supply in case of a leak.
How much clearance is needed around a tankless water heater?
The installation of a water heater should be done in a way that prevents combustible materials from coming into contact with the water heater or outlet water pipe. Keep combustible materials at least 24 inches away from the water heater and output hot water pipe. Children should be kept out of the reach of the water heater, electrical sub-panel, and outlet hot water pipe to prevent tampering with temperature controls or injury.
Installing a tankless water heater should be avoided in areas with excessive humidity, moisture, or dust, or in areas where it may be splashed with water or liquids. It is also not recommended to install under water pipes or air conditioning lines that might leak or condense moisture.
If installing a water heater on a second floor or heated attic space, follow local code requirements. Install a drip pan below the water heater to avoid property damage in case of a leak, or consider installing an active water leak detector and shut-off valve to turn off the water supply in case of a leak.
How do you weather proof a tankless water heater?
To prevent freezing of a tankless water heater, follow these steps:
Insulate the water heater by applying fiberglass or polyethylene insulation to the pipes connected to it. Heat tape can also prevent freezing, but only works when power is available.
Keep the water in motion by turning on a faucet slightly to prevent freezing. This can be done during extreme cold periods to avoid wasting water.
Install a Hot Water Recirculation System if your tankless water heater is compatible with one. This system creates a loop between the water heater and faucet, preventing the water from getting cold. This can help prevent freezing and provide instant hot water in cold climates.
How do I hide my instant water heater?
Hide a water heater in your room by using room dividers, hanging curtains around the heater, or installing a faux cabinet. Room dividers can block the view of the water heater, while curtains hanging from the ceiling provide a light and inexpensive alternative. Building a cabinet around the heater not only conceals it but also provides additional storage space. Measure the height of the water heater, including any pipes that extend up and out from the top, and write down the measurements.
The width and depth of the water heater are not as important as the height, as room divider length can be adjusted. Regardless of the method, hiding the water heater will make your room look great and enhance its aesthetic appeal.
How do you weatherproof a tankless water heater?
Insulation is essential for tankless water heaters and plumbing pipes, which are susceptible to freezing during cold temperatures. Fiberglass and heat tape are excellent options for winterizing, with various types and materials available. Applying heat tape on pipes connected to the water heater ensures water doesn’t freeze. However, heat tape only works when there’s power. Battery backup is crucial for maintaining a consistent power source, especially when homes or businesses lose power, as demonstrated in Texas. Both heat tape and battery backup are essential for protecting water pipes and preventing freezing.
Can you put a curtain in front of a water heater?
Consider using fabric curtains to hide your water heater in a garage or basement. These curtains should be long and wide enough to cover the heater’s front and set away from the unit. You can change the curtain pattern to update the area. Screens offer a more substantial option, with options including traditional dividers and standing shutters. Manufacturers offer wooden and plastic screens, which can be painted or decorated.
For more permanent enclosures, consider complete indoor hot water heater enclosures for basement or kitchen storage. These options can be customized to suit your preferences and add a touch of elegance to your space.
Do outdoor tankless water heaters need venting?
Tankless water heaters can be installed outdoors without additional venting in warmer climates due to their self-warming design. However, in cold climates with frequent power outages, the tanks can freeze. Therefore, indoor installation is recommended. In warm climates with infrequent power outages, outdoor installation can save on costs, interior space, and installation time. In such cases, the tankless water heater is more suitable for indoor use.
Is it OK to put a tankless water heater outside?
A tankless water heater can be installed outside, but it’s essential to choose a model that can withstand different weather patterns. Even electric models should be installed under a cover to keep electrical components dry. DIY homeowners should follow the owner’s manual’s steps to install a water heater, as dealing with gas and combustion is crucial. If you’re unsure, consult a professional.
To install an outdoor tankless water heater, first disconnect your old water heater by shutting off the gas and power supply. This will allow the new tankless heater to power itself. If you’re not confident, consult a professional for assistance.
Can you enclose an outdoor tankless water heater?
An outdoor tankless water heater enclosure is a crucial investment that protects your investment and extends its lifespan. It ensures proper ventilation and airflow, prevents overheating, and maintains optimal performance. Additionally, it offers insulation for plumbing pipes, preventing freezing during colder temperatures. Investing in a high-quality enclosure is essential for protecting your investment, maximizing the lifespan of your water heater, and ensuring uninterrupted hot water supply for your home.
📹 3 Things They Don’t Tell You About Tankless
Is a tankless water heater for you? Yes, there are many reasons to get one, including endless hot water, size, placement of the unit …
I used a large computer UPS I got just from Best Buy under $300 for a property as emergency power backup for the tankless boiler and heating system. The UPS is big enough to run the two heating circulating pumps and ignite the NG boiler no problem for a few hrs. Long term I plan on setting up smaller versions of Sol-Ark solar systems and small lithium battery banks on our properties.
I have a Rinnai tankless water heater (5 years old) in my garage in Charlotte. It’s not heating water today. I’ve been through cold spells before. Any tips? My garage is currently 44 degrees, but its 11 degrees outside and won’t get above freezing today or until tomorrow afternoon outside. The unit is mounted to an exterior wall in my garage.
What abt the electric cord that goes from tankless to exterior plug That cord is somewhat rubberized but it’s going to deteriorate right? Like how long would it take being exposed to elements 24/7 I ask becuz I’ve got one I don’t have to worry abt cold weather but I worry abt that cord Anyone with this experience?
youtu.be/OAS_GC8KwOQ?t=59 There are water pipes that are on the exterior and there are natural gas pipes on the exterior. You seem to be pointing to the water pipes. I’m here as my natural gas generator will not start then the weather is below freezing. Is there moisture inside the gas lines that can freeze?
Someone already caught the gas line vs. ignition source code violation (for heater, electric power, and ac unit). I’m going to note an electrical code issue along with total failure to plumb to code: The heater power cord plug and the socket both are not proper for outdoor all weather service. It’s clear that the plumbing was not installed by a professional, not just the water lines, but that gas line to the heater looks like a disaster waiting to happen.
I went for outdoor because of space inside. I had heat tape, foam insulation over pipe, and an aluminum backed insulation over the foam and the lines still froze to water heater. Think I’m going to build a dog house around all the plumbing because I think it’s the wind getting me.. And it’s possibly freezing just inside the brick.
Big question. We have mountain log cabin in north carolina, no insulation so the indoor instant water heater just as well be outdoors because we cant aford to keep the heat on in winter. Water lines are drained. With water turned off and pipes gravity drained and power ON does the water heater still keep itself safe from residual water in lines inside unit? I have the unit in closet with insulation stuffed in closet but still the inside of house can get below 20 degrees for day and weeks I have a mrKool split system that will run 24×7 to keep house above 50 degrees, should i keep heart pump running even if this weekend temps outdoors will stay below zero?
The best way to do a battery back up for that heat cord and external hot water system is to modify the line that goes out to the receptacle that it is plugged into. Inside the house, cut the line and install a standard plug going to the outside, and a receptacle for it to plug into on the house mains. When you need to do put it on a battery back up, unplug it on the inside of the house and into a battery. This way the battery will not be degraded from the cold and you won’t waste energy using a very long extension cord. Safety tip for those that don’t see the obvious. Don’t run an internal combustion engine powered generator inside the house! That bright idea can kill you.
HOT TIP: NAVAL SHOWER A Navy shower is “the term used for a water-saving technique that was started in the Navy to help save precious freshwater aboard ships. The basic idea is to hop in the shower, get wet all over, turn off the water while soaping up, and then rinse clean. The small change in routine makes a huge difference: a regular shower can use as much as 60 gallons of water, while a Navy shower can check in at about 3 gallons.” (HUFF POST, 03/29/2009 05:12 am ET Updated May 25, 2011) But the hard part probably is getting a teenager to buy-in! Thanks for taking the time to create these website’s content… and thanks for sharing!
I love ours. Endless hot water is delivered to all points of our 1800 sq. ft. ranch. We can run two showers, a dishwasher and fill up a tub all at the same time. It only cost us a couple of hundred bucks to install by ourselves, and honestly with the $300 federal tax rebate it was cheaper than the conventional power vented 50 gallon tank we would have replaced it with.
We built a new house in 1991 with two 75 gallon natural gas water heaters. Had 7 kids at the time, the orginal water heaters only lasted 7 years. Replaced with 1 tank less we never paid more than 1/3 the cost of the previous system. I service the system 1 a year even though we have a soft water system in the house. Our tank less is 19 years old still working.
I owned a Dry Cleaning plant that also laundered shirts and was replacing one of my two 100 gallion tanks each year. I switch to a tankless system set at 160* and washed shirts and laundry for 5 hours a day. My gas bill was cut in half and when I sold the plant seven years later it was still running efficiently with only two service calls in the time I owned it.
I have 2 tankless, one for hot water and the other heats my house using radiant floor heat, had them for the last 7 years, works fantastic, heats a 2500 sqft house in Missouri for about $60 bucks a month in the coldest part of the winter. Would never ever go back to a tank heater or ” traditional” house heat. Gutted the old central air/heat pump and installed minisplit AC systems, dropped my cooling cost by over $100 a month and keeps the house much cooler than before.
As a plumber in CO one more thing I tell my customers looking to install a tankless is that our cold ground water will dramatically affect it’s performance. The GPM listed for the units is for optimal conditions. Our cold ground water, especially in the winter will reduce the GPM of the unit. I’ve had one of customers that would be taking a shower and someone would turn on the kitchen which would over load the unit and it would shut off. The only fix for this is to turn down the temperature on the unit which the customer was not happy with, they like hot showers. It will also slow down the water going through the unit in order to heat the water which will result in lower perceived pressure.
Been tankless for over 30 years. First one replaced an electric heater, had a standing pilot and no blower, so no electrical connection required. Used that for 20 years. Present one is on year 11, piezo, propane, exhaust blower, so power loss means no hot water. But we’re also on a well, so power loss means no water anyway. Besides, a 10 KW generator takes care of that situation. Estimated the first one would pay for itself in 1-1/2 years; only took 9 months. Both have always run on soft water. The present unit has a remotely settable hot water outlet temperature feature so, for example, from your bathroom you can adjust the hot water outlet temp to exactly what’s needed without the need to mix in cold to cool it at the shower faucet. Bingo! Your efficiency just improved. Tankless have their little quirks but no show-stoppers. I’ll never have another tank.
Matt, I bet that there some days that you are thinking: “The work I do is tankless, sometimes”. I feel the same way, but remain tankful, and grateful, too. Oh, and about the timer thing? I did that with my teens, but ended up just becoming a bird watcher, with only one bird that I was perusal after they were done washing…
I reside in one of nyc borrows using city water, i had installed a bosh Tankless water heater 21 years ago never ever serviced it never had an issue with,and the thing works as good as the first day installed, i even forget wee have one,it have an externally controlled thermostat we usually have it set at 98 dgs. with everything running sink dish washer same time,or you can be watering the garden to and not even noticing any deference in temp, or flow, i guess it have a lot to do with the water quality and the house piping and water pressure,it uses natural gas and electric for exhaust fan, i also have one installed at the summer house that is running on propane gas and 2 D battery’s using well water there, 6 years now and so far had no problem, replace the 2 D battery’s every spring time is all i do with that one In the last 2 years i have replaced both of my sons hot water tanks with tankless they ere happy with them so far too.and they do save Money they use some electricity and gas, most important they are ready for you r demand for hot water at any time, one thing try and install it as clause as possible to where use the most hot water, so you have less travel of hat water and also save on water, me it is under the bathroom in the basement, open the hot water and it’s there in 15 seconds, i recommend tankless water heaters.
Our thankless is a HUGE GOD send. Our household has 2 teenage girls and myself and my husband. It’s so great…no arguing, no deciding between running the dishwasher or taking a shower or bath. Love it! Oh…PS…5 minute shower? Uhhhh…when your boys are teens you’ll want them in there as long as possible or the BO stank issues will be real…lol
I recently replaced a 50 gallon tank non-power vent for less than $600. Works when the power is out. I’ve never run out of hot water yet. My gas bill is around $10 a month (just the water heater and range is gas) so to spend 1500+ on a tankless and have to plumb the exhaust vent differently, it’s not worth the extra price. I’ve seen plenty of tankless have issues with scale & sediment and they stop working, along with control boards having issues – which then you have to wait weeks for parts and service to get hot water again. There’s very little to go wrong with a simple tried and true non-power vent gas water heater.
One of the reasons I’m interested in one is I have a double wide mobile home and I need to move and relocate the pressure tank and hot water heater and this unit wold save a lot space. Where it is currently the fuse panel is directly on the back side of it….can you tell me what kind of heater would you use in this situation……I only have propane……my house does have a ew softener system.
I’ve watched a few of these articles just see how other people live. I get the feeling that what Americans call tankless we call instant hot water systems, same thing different name. What does surprise me is there is a debate about them as if they are something new. I’m 77 and our house had that system before I was born. Another thing is talk about water quality. Trying to think back I doubt if we had a service more than 3 times in over 20 years. We were on the city supply. I’m in the process of building a new house for myself. As I live alone I’m going for electric instant heat. When it comes to usage, my mother did what your talking about; timers. When my father died my mother looked at all the household expences and put a 3 minute egg timer in the shower.
I have two (yes, 2) tankless water heaters in my house. They are both 95+ efficient units. One is used for DHW while the others is used to heat my underfloor radiant heat system. The one main drawback of a tankless unit for DHW is the delay in getting hot water to the faucet. My unit has an internal pump that would push the water through the system to keep the hot in the pipes. But then it has to run the burner when it does it. To counteract this you need to plumb a return line back the the unit from your furthest faucet otherwise it forces the hot water into the cold water pipes. As for the one i use to heat my floors, it works great. When there is a call for heat, the pumps turn on and cycle the water through the burner. As the water heats up the unit sensed this and modulates the burner to heat the incoming water to the correct heat. When my tankless unit runs, I have watched the incoming water rise quickly from 70* to close to 110* and the unit is set for an outflow of 120* water. so it goes from a 50* heat rise to a 10* heat rise. And that is where the tankless unit shines. I have gone out to look at the gas meter and watch the flow of gas drop dramatically (the meter spins much slower as the demand for gas drops.) My gas bill from Xcel is much lower than others. The January bill where we had multiple days below 0*F was a little over $240 for my 2800 sqft house.
after installing my tankless water heater (in the basement) about 3 years ago, my gas bill has dropped by half, and no problems. I had a guy who knows a lot about plumbling also install an inline whole-house water filter which then directs water service to my house and TWH. the filtration of the hard water should extend the life of the unit.
The thought of endless hot water was not even a part of my decision, but turned out to be an awesome feature. We ran a hot water line to the outside of our house for washing the car, the dog or whatever. The 4th thing you did not mention was PRICE! Where I live in British Columbia Canada a hot water tank is $1000, on demand system is $500
In my area, we do not have natural gas. And we also have propane available but with the regulations regarding the inspections of the tank, how long you can keep the tank, where the tank has to be in proximity of the house, and the overall cost of the propane and monthly rental for things just eats any potential cost savings you can have. The only thing I can have in my area is electric. And my house is wired where it can take an electric tankless water heater for a whole house. What I found I had to do is I had to use a small heated water tank because I have a recirculation pump so that way I have hot water at every fixture right away. The water recirculation pump brings it back to the tank which is small and maintains a certain temperature, and then the tankless refills the tank as it empty so that way I don’t have to worry about low flow and evaporating because it’s always refilling the bigger tank.
From my master plumber point of view, for the most part, I agree with the points brought up in this article. Personally I do not try to actively sell tankless. I do tell every customer what is mentioned in this article. I would add there is a #4 that most contractors do not tell you. These units are very sensitive to flow rate. For example you have to have “X” gallon per minute flowing through the heater for it to function properly. If you have a low flow shower head, there is a chance that that there is not enough flow on the hot side to get the heater to operate as designed. Remember, your mixing hot and cold in your faucet. Let’s say I can measure 4 GPM coming out of the shower head, that means in theory that I have 2GPM on the hot line and 2GPM on the cold line. That 2GPM is not enough for the tankless to operate correctly. *the 2GPM is just a made up number I used to make my point, consult the tankless manufacturers manual for the real numbers.
Hi Matt, Jim in Japan and I mentioned before, every house in Japan has one or more of these heaters and nobody ever has them serviced. They last 15-20 years then they replace them. I am sure water in Japan is quite hard, very hard in many places. I have never seen any scale on faucet filters etc. However, I am asking my wife to get one of ours serviced, it still works but I believe it needs a tune up. I will get back to you how that goes.
The greatest disadvantage of a tank-less HWU and in particular the one featured here, is the plumber who did the installation. He has done THE ugliest bit of work I think possible. It is so bad, he should be made to pay the money he was paid, to the owners. Fair enough, it was beyond his comprehension to do a decent job under the heater, I mean it IS complicated. But why the hell did he not have a spirit level to check the pipework going up the wall? Why did he feel it so necessary to make it look like a drunk plumber without tools did the work? As to scale; That’s because of the water supply that does not have a neutral PH level. BUT, you CAN install a neutralising PH filter system to save your tank, OR your whole house water system from having to carry poor PH level water. True, it costs more money to do that but it is so simple that the ongoing maintenance of the filtration system, can be easily done by the house owner. On electricity supply; We have lived in our house for 40 years and never experienced a power outage. We are lucky. If you live in an area where you do suffer outages, why you wouldn’t have a generator on standby is beyond me. Speaking of power; Apart from the crap pretend plumber who installed the Instantaneous HWU, the electrician who put that abortion up on the wall needs to be kicked up the backside from morning to night. What’s wrong with that part of the US? Don’t they have any tradesmen who know how to do a good job?
I have Naiven dual boiler for domestic hot water and for the radiant heating system in the house. Now going into my third winter season with the system. You have summarized the advantages of such a system, so I won’t repeat. It has been completely reliable so far and highly efficient. My fuel source is propane, with a future availability of natural gas in my neighborhood. We recently went through 75 hours of no electrical power due to a wind storm. I am fortunate to have a permanently installed auxiliary generator. No issues in supplying electrical power to the boiler’s controls. My water is soft, so mineral buildup in the pipes is not apparent. Just today I bought vinegar to use in flushing the boiler jackets. I have seen articles for maintaining my boiler, which I will do very soon, early in the Fall season. Doesn’t seem like much of a charge and well within the capabilities of a DIYer. Bottom line, I am completely satisfied in the choice I made for heating my home in a northern climate and for endless hot water (no teenagers at home).
More disadvantages to the tankless in my bathroom: It shuts off for low flows. So I have to fill a plastic container of warm water in the sink in order to shave (wash face and clear whisker cuttings from the razor in warm water instead of a ultra-frigid stream of cold water), which is a throwback to the old days. I also have to run more volume of water for a shower than I need because of the it-shuts-off-for-low-flows problem. I am on an old septic system that is just about shot and it doesn’t need extra water going into it. I’m disabled, so it takes me longer to wash hair, then change positions to switch to washing upper body, then lower, then feet etc. So, I can’t turn it off in the middle of any of those stages in order to change positions etc. because when I turn the water back on, the hot water line from the tankless has cooled off and that makes me have to keep adjusting the hot and cold control. I had no such problems with the hot water tank because I could just leave the water at a low flow level.
You talk about scale. You absolutely need to keep the fixtures running and free-flowing. I discovered this at a camp that has a tankless water system. The camp is watered by a well. I can tell by the green stains on some of the porcelain that the water is a bit acidic. That means that if it isn’t pulling minerals from the well, it’s clogging up fixtures by eating away at the copper pipes. You can tell this in particular in the showers. The bathroom faucets flow pretty well. The showers are better at trickling. The problem that this creates with a tankless system is that the shower heads have degraded to where the water flow is below the threshold for the water heaters to kick on, so you always get a cold shower unless hot water is being tapped elsewhere on the same system. So the thing to do is to turn on the hot water in the faucet and go take a shower while it’s running. It’s hardly ideal and certainly a waste of energy.
I live alone and installing a tankless water heater reduced my gas consumption in the summer by about 75%. So, a tankless system might make sense for those of us who use little hot water, because it really reduces the gas consumption. It might also make sense to those of us who use a lot of hot water because it provides unlimited amounts. Maybe for the average user the savings are not as big?
I find this article’s claims to be untrue for me. My outdoor tankless came with the house used (5 yrs?) and I’ve personally used it for 3 yrs. I never run out of hot. (Dishes, shower, sink) Not hooked up to electricity-use ordinary battery for ignition. The unit costs $130 on Amazon nw. They have many models/make like that. 2 person household. NEVER been seviced. Works fine. Love it!!!
Moved into a place that had one of these tankless. Me and my wife really like it. I did the math and the savings on the gas bill cover the maintenance costs. For us since the yearly cost is about the same it’s about the convenience. The key is maintenance. I’ve heard of people getting 20 years out of these when they do the maintenance.
I can’t afford an expensive heater right now, but Ive been looking at the cheap ones for well under $200. I understand that they’re designed for sinks and such, but I wonder how it would do in my house? I live alone and only need hot water for 2 things, my quick showers, and my dishes. No washing machine. Would a small 1.2 gal hot water per minute tank work for me?
FYI. Lived in Spain for several years, experienced the tankless water heater. No electricity is required for operation, well, some is 🙂 Through a “D” sized battery, can you believe that? They had an insert for a “D” size battery just for the igniter…..incredible. It wasn’t a standby system for when the power goes out, it was the main source.
I have a con to add to your list. Just suffered the recent freeze in Texas and a part needs replaced. Parts are not readily available when sales spike. I’m waiting 2+ months for parts to be available again. Sales are too low for anyone to make money on aftermarket parts so OEM parts are all you will find, or not find, in my case.
10yrs using tankless, 2 adults we’ve realized significant gas saving. Ours has inline screen. Easy maintenance using valve system. Also no catastrophic leaks. We also were able to remove a 2×2′ chimney which provided additional space in laundry room while eliminating air leaks and temperature transfer of bricks
Make sure the unit you choose has sufficient delivery volume! My camping version is so slow that by the time your hot epsom salt bath filled up, it would have likely cooled too much. To get the max temp you must slow the flow to the minimum, and to get the maximum flow, you must sacrifice maximum temp. What you want to compare, is max temp at the unit’s max flow rate.
For the Midwest what if you installed a tankless in front of your hot water heater. Instead of dumping 35° city water directly into our traditional hot water heater it goes to the tankless first set the tankless at the lowest setting It would be an energy savings and you would still have back up if the power went out. just asking
IF you have my tankless electric water heater. to be honest I LOVE IT!!!!! But be warned, it requires 2 dual 60amp breakers. and will rise your bill slightly about $20 a month. It takes about 8 seconds to reach full 145F then about 10 sec there after for it to stablize (No anid rods and lower power setting). Also take the tiny tank inside apart once every 3-6 months and keep it clean!
Here in small-town, high-elevation Wyoming most people have an emergency generator, a lot of us have a water softener, and even if we have to flush the unit once a year that doesn’t seem like much, especially if you can do it yourself. The bigger issue with tankless would be restricted water flow with icy winter well water.
I had a Bosch Aquastar installed in my home just over 20 years ago. It has worked flawlessly, and I have not experienced any of the problems described by others here. With respect to operation, two things: I adjust the temperature during the course of the year depending on the temperature of water coming into the house. During warm summer months I adjust it down, during cold winter adjust it up. Second, I adjust the heater so that the hot water temperature at the tap is that for a good hot shower without mixing in any cold water. You should not run these like a tank where you have a high temp (within code) in the tank that is mixed with cold water at the tap! For the kitchen I have a small undersink tankless heater just for that sink. That way I get essentially instant hot water and the temperature is set higher for cleaning.
Two minutes in and you can see his colors shining clearly through, just like his last review of hybrid tanks – he does not like tankless and won’t fairly evaluate them. I brought his up on that article…lots of agreement…and crickets from Matt. This article just gets better (NOT)…he then goes on to question the energy guides…aren’t those Federal mandated and regulated? (The answer is YES, the Department of Energy oversees them). Oh, but if you have endless water, you’re going to use it??? How about – I WANT endless water and don’t want to have to wait for a tank to ‘recover’! Scale…that doesn’t occur in a TANK?…where the water is just sitting? Yes, and it eats the anode rod that no one ever replaces (nor do they drain their tank annually). Come on, really. You are comparing flushing the tankless with having to flush and replace an anode, but the tanked heater is better? This Old House has had some great examples of 10-15 year old tanks split open to show the extent of the scale. AND…there’s no way to flush it out if you don’t stay on top of MAINTENANCE on your tank and replace that anode. The same as if you didn’t do maintenance on the tankless. I’m not a fanboy of tankless, I just know the rest of the world has been using them A LONG TIME and continues to use them to this day. And they are what will go in my ‘forever’ home. Please just stop doing articles on water heaters…
4th and 5th things. the temp of the water coming out of the heater depends on the temp of the supply water. freezing supply water means you have to crank up the heater to get decent hot water. 5th if the heater has an igniter rather than a pilot light, there must be sufficient water pressure to cause the igniter to work. people who have well water supplied through a pressure pump, governed by a 30/50 pressure switch, may find that at 30 lbs pressure,the igniter will not work. pressure translates to water flow that makes the igniter work.
When my water tank quit back in 2006 I replaced it with a Bosch Tankless gas unit WITH a standing pilot. The home center was selling them for the same price as a 50 gallon tank unit at that time (I think someone made a mistake, I asked if that was the true price and they said it was so I jumped on it!). I have been extremely happy with my tankless Water heater.
3 years of living with a tankless. Regarding Matt’s 3 things they didn’t tell you. In most places, power reliability is near 100% due to loop high voltage distribution and underground medium voltage distribution. If you live in an area with frequent power outages, a small battery backup (UPS) will suffice. But if you do I’d suggest you move. The energy savings is overblown. It really comes down to standby losses and tank heaters are so well insulated that this is almost a thing of the past on a daily basis (if you pay for it) and if you’re gone for days: shut it off. My exhaust temperature is 115-120F and my log mean delta T is just a few degrees so it’s getting 90+% of the lower heating value out of the gas. Some tank hot water systems can get these low LMDT numbers as well. I flush mine every 12 months. I spent $100 for a cheap sump pump and $12 for 2 short hoses. 4 gallons of vinegar and a pound of citric acid (chelates the calcium) costs $10 each time I do it. So once a year from start to finish it takes <90 minutes to flush it. I know I've done a good job by just checking the exhaust temperature.
I work for a natural gas utility company. I see many people who think that you can simply swap out a tank for tankless. Often they will get a low-pressure code because they did not run a dedicated gas line to the tankless and size the pipe correctly. 2nd the cost to fix can be very expensive. A pc board can cost $600.
I’ve been a plumber here in Sydney Australia for about 30yrs and also because we have very good water quality tankless has been the way to go, Maintanance free, energy efficient and neat tidy space saving installation, having said that I still have a storage tank system, only because it came with the house we bought, made from stainless steel 30 years and counting If it’s not broken why fix it😀 Every situation is different your local plumber knows best,….. if they’re good he/she will share that information as part of their duty of care. Have a wonderful day
Our house was built with the usual 40 gal tank in the basement, with about a 12′ run to the kitchen. The owners then replaced with a tankless unit, and now it’s a 45′ run to the kitchen. The missus always turns on the hot tap to wash the occasional cup – but the hot water doesn’t even reach the faucet before she turns it off. That means there’s nearly a gallon of water getting heated and running through the pipe which never gets used… every time. Annoys the heck out of me – but will she change? Make sure the placement of your device is as close to the wet zones as possible.
We moved into a ‘new’ cabin that had been sitting for awhile from a previous owner dispute with the contractor, that had one of these on demands installed. We fired it up and used it for two years before it failed and leaked all over the utility room. Opening it up, the fins had completely degraded and turned to grit. We had to have it rebuilt to get hot water again.
Also, I have used tankless a lot in office buildings. I recommend the installation of a cheap in line filter, and change the filter once a year as routine maintenance. They work great, really save energy costs, tenants love them and if you ever need to change one out they are as easy as unplugging them and removing two water connections. Then reconnect and plug back in. We used conventional electric range plugs. The only change out we ever had was for a failure of a heating element (which was under warranty and they just sent a whole new unit).
It’s also vital to centrally locate the tankless. My late mother’s house has its tankless on one end of the house and the kitchen sink on the opposite end. This makes occasional point-of-use water, like washing dishes old school, constantly needing a wasteful running until it’s hot again scenario. And no, “just get a dishwasher” is not an acceptable solution. Said house will be up for sale in a month or so. I expect that the next owner will switch batch to a tank. The old tank location resulted in tank failure (and a small flood) about every 6 years or so. Ugh.
I recently (~24 mos. ago) replaced my tank water heater with a tankless. I save about $100 to $120 a year on my natural gas bill and never running out of hot water is a big plus. The space saving is a big deal too. My unit is mounted inside the house here in the southern mountains around Asheville. The unit has to be vented, so it’s mounted on an exterior wall making the vent short and direct. Your “How to flush the unit” article was a big help too, Matt. Thanks for that. I should jump on that job right away.
Something else not mentioned is the time to get hot water from a tap. With a tank, we had hot water out of the faucet in a few seconds. Now that my house has a tankless heater, almost everything other than a shower or particularly long sink task like washing dishes ends up being with cold water simply due to the extra time the tankless heater takes to deliver hot water.
For power outages, the units pull less power then a 100 watt light bulb, they can be powered for quite some time by a PC backup power supply, I would recommend any internal unit be connected to on for the extra surge protection, back up power and voltage conditioning of a good APC. External can be put on them if wired right. For usage, don’t blame the units for not forcing you to use less hot water. That’s kind of like saying grocery stores get a bad mark cause they let you buy food you end up throwing out. The units waste no gas holding hot water and get more of the heat generated into the water then normal tank heaters buy about 10% on non condensing units. For the flushing, which you have bad B roll of, yeah u buy a pump and bucket once with some hose fittings. You use 4 gallons of the cheapest vinegar possible once a year, or you buy one of the tankless manufactures pretreatment cartridges and replace them as they run out. Its simpler than changing the oil in a car, you can do it yourself, have a cheap handyman do it or even one of those teenagers using up all that hot water.
We just got an outdoor Rinnai with the recirc pump (set to run 4 hours in the a.m.). It replaced another tankless of another brand that lasted almost 16 years. 2 things I don’t like with the new is the hum of the recirc pump, and the more concerning thing is a couple of faucets will drip a few drops of water when the recirculating pump is running. We have 65 lbs psi at the hose bib, and the plumber came back and installed an expansion tank, but I still get the drips from the 2 faucets (all the other faucets and shower valves are fine). Weird…
If my power goes out, I am MORE worried about the food in my refrigerator then if I can take a hot shower. If you are taking hour long showers, might I suggest a whirlpool tub (If you are THAT worried about how much water you are using). Most larger areas have companies that will, for an annual fee, provide service to your HVAC, Electrical, and Plumbing.
I found the main downer of these units is the amperage draw required to run. I laughed when he pulled the cord out of that 15amp outlet. I just installed one for a customer remodeling a bathroom here in Maine and the first unit they choose drew 113amps@240v and required 3 – 2p40amp breakers. I told them order another one or we’d have to upgrade their service 200 to 400amp. We settled on an 80amp two-heater unit (2 – 2p40amp). Which still required adding a 100amp subpanel for breaker space. To boot, even that 80amp unit has a hard time keeping up with the flow rate of water. We had to throttle down the water pressure as much possible so the unit didn’t throw an error. Big considerations
Okay, I’ve installed many of these in my day…. Now let me tell you, endless hot water… What does that even mean.. Do you really need that? I mean seriously.. think about that. I have an 80 gallon water heater. I have the thermostat set at 175° I have a timer that has the water heater run for 3 hours a day… Family of four I have all the hot water I need for the day. When we go away I just turned it off. The size of the water heater.. It’s in the basement.. It’s under the basement stairs.. It doesn’t bother me where it is… Tankless hot water heaters.. If you have hard water. They’re not going to last. And they are extremely expensive. I feel there are waste of money. You do what you need to do. But I have actually removed them from people’s homes. And installed tanked water heaters again.. I’m just saying…
HUGE HINT with most Tankless hot water heaters.. .. turn shower mixing valve to 3/4 hot… get a friend to monitor the temp of the shower while you slowly adjust the valve on the Inlet to the tankless hot water heater.. once you get that inlet valve adjusted to the exact position for the perfect shower temp with the shower valve at 3/4 hot.. count the fractions of a turn to shut it off .. and then count the turns to turn it fully on.. turn it off.. then open the valve to the exact fractions of a turn.. and mark the turns and fractions on the wall beside the valve.. tankless water heaters use a pressure drop to turn on the power.. if you have the inlet valve wide open. there is NO pressure drop when you get in the shower.. the power never turns on and you or your clients get a COLD SHOWER.. as an installer.. please take a picture of the install .. use your phone or software back at the shop to notate how many turns on the valve … and save that file as the home address water heater adjustment. so you can find it in decades to come when they call you. why the shower.. you don’t want a cold shower.. you don’t want a boiling hot shower.. you like the 3 bears wants a shower that is just right.. dishwashers, laundry equipment will take full flow thru the heater with the restriction to lower the pressure drop to turn the power on.. but the shower must be perfect.. INLET TURN THE FLOW DOWN.. NOT THE OUTLET..
Two more downsides that weren’t mentioned: a tankless unit may require a larger vent and larger gas supply pipe (if the previous one was gas). This will add to the installation cost. Solution for the long teenager showers: put in a 10 gallon tank unit. Unless they like cold showers they WILL get out.
I live in Spain and virtually all homes have tankless water heaters. Like most models here, they use a couple of d cell flashlight batteries to ignite the flame. The batteries last for years. I believe mine ia atill running on the same batteries I installed about 6 years ago. So the blackout problem shouldn´t be a problem, And by the way, how often does that occur anyway? Not a strong argument as a detractor from using tankless. Cost – I bought a mid level model for 269 euros. High end models run around 500 to 800 euros,
One is my favorite benefits is being able to drink your instantly heated water (which I’d never do with a storage system). My biggest con is that they need a minimum rate of flow in order to kick in (otherwise they’d overheat), meaning that you can’t just dribble a little hot water at your kitchen sink or have a very lukewarm shower. At least, that’s how mine were anyway.
Not sure how I feel about these “limitations”. 1) how often is your power going out that this is a problem? If your power is that flakey, then a solar panel is a great mitigation option here, even more so than a generator. 2) kids having long showers isn’t a fault of the system, but rather kids not having boundaries. Even still, tankless main savings come during winter when you’re not trying to keep 300L of water hot when it’s freezing outside. And you’re more likely to see a rise in water consumption before the cost of gas to heat gets you. 3) this is more a limitation on your city’s water supply than the unit itself. If you’ve got scale issues from hard water, it’s gonna cause havoc for all systems, not just tankless. I’ve used both systems, but if I ever have to overhaul my water system, the first addition is a tankless unit. Maybe we’re just blessed in Australia to not have issues with water or electricity supply.
What he didn’t tell you is that when the water exceeds 8 grains hard the heating ability starts to degrade in the first 30 days. When the majority of hardness in the water is calcium bicarbonate the functionality degrades significantly in the first 6 months by as mush as 30%. Most manufacturers require a 5-micron sediment filter and some kind of scale reduction media to meet their warranty. A water does a good job when the meter is set correctly, and the brine tank is loaded with salt, but if the pH is low the sodium will lead to corrosion. Also, most manufacturers want you to remove chlorides, sulfates and silica’s or provide some kind of protection, otherwise the metal contact parts will start to degrade inside of 24 months. Softening does nothing for corrosion.
There are pros and cons to everything. I have installed numerous tankless hot water heaters, and always inform the customer of power outages and to have the unit maintenanced annually. There are many things that need regular maintenance in your home. Air filters every 30 days, batteries in smoke detectors, garbage disposals, etc …. Once a year for one hour is nothing and preserves your investment. AA small subpump and a gallon of vinegar, that’s it. As far as instant hot water, only if you have a recirculating pump and your plumbing is correct. Otherwise, it may take a small amount of time for the hot water to reach you, depending on how much pipe it needs to flow through. They are cost efficient compared to an electric tanked hot water heater. And you don’t have 50 gallons of water waiting to burst forth in your home when the rust out and rupture. Do you tell your customers about that issue when you sell them a house with a tanked hot water heater in it? Fifty gallons flowing from the attic down into the house is a disaster. Tankless hot water heaters don’t store nor perpetually heat water. Is on demand as you need it, only. They usually pay for themselves in about 18 months. And you are right, it is about teaching conservation. Teenage girls realizing there is endless hot water (until you run out of gas -propane) will stay an hour in the shower. As far as trouble shooting goes, a simple pressure tester and a multimeter is all you really need. I wouldn’t use anything else but tankless.
I’m located in Edmonton Alberta, Canada. I rent my tankless water heater: the company (Rob’s Albertan Service Experts) services and de-scales my tank yearly– for FREE. They’ll also come to my house as a priority client should there be any issues with it. They also warned me about power outages BEFORE I signed the contract. Now that my 15 year-old tank is gone, I no longer worry about serious water damage in my fully- finished basement, had the 40 gallon tin can decided to burst once and for all. All in all, I LOVE my tankless water heater.
I’ve had the same tankless unit (Bosch Aquastar) in my house for about 18 years now. It has worked perfectly and with no problems the entire time. Mine continues to work even if the power is out so if that is important to you shop around, not all require electricity. In addition, adjust the outgoing water temperature during the course of the year so that the outgoing hot water is just about the temperature needed for a hot shower without mixing in any cold water. You do not want to run these with scalding hot water that is then diluted with cold water at the faucet or showerhead. You lose efficiency doing it that way. I think that also minimizes scale, I have only cleaned mine once during the whole 18 years and I am not even sure it needed it then. My gas bills dropped noticeably when I had this installed to replace the old 40 gallon tank in my house. Been a long time but at the time I recall somewhere around $25/month.
I’ve had a tankless for about 4 years now. It is a lifestyle adjustment, so it’s not for everyone, but I prefer it. One thing to note is that these generally are installed on a wall or outside, rather than central where typically a water heater would be. This adds pipe length so it does take longer for hot water to reach faucets/showers. Mine is a Rinnai & has a built-in pump, which I manually turn on before showering. Takes ~45sec for hot water to reach kitchen faucet or shower. That way, when you open these, you have minimal cold water waste. Note that you have to install the recirculating valve at the farthest fixture for the pump to be effective. Other than that, I love the fact that the unit is essentially off when I don’t need hot water, so it’s great for people who aren’t home much. I live alone, so utility bill was never much of an issue. I noticed a slight dip but I didn’t do it for the money and will never recoup the total cost, but that’s ok.
Dear God! If the hot water didn’t run out, my kid would NEVER leave the bath tub. I was the same way when I was younger. I once fainted because I had spent the whole afternoon in a bath, reading a good book, not eating and then topping the tub off with piping hot water. The phone rang (land line) and I jumped up, wrapped myself in a towel and went to go answer it. It was my then boyfriend, now husband. I woke up from the deepest, most relaxing nap, wondering why: 1) the phone was making the disconnect noise; 2) The phone receiver was laying on the kitchen floor; 3) I was also laying on the kitchen floor; 4) I was soaking wet and 5) Wearing a nothing but a bath sheet. I had a roommate and wasn’t in the habit of wandering around the apartment in a towel and I never took naps on the kitchen floor. I hung up the phone and my boyfriend called back. I had scared the life out of him. He said that I was talking cheerfully and then my voice just faded out. He shouted and called to me, but I didn’t answer. He hung up the phone and tried to call back several times but got the busy signal. He said that it had been about 10 minutes. He was ready to call the police and an ambulance when I finally answered the phone.
I think this little box in my closet is a tankless water heater. Can I a pic and send it to someone it’s making a high-pitched noise and my water is cold. This all began after the plumber had to come and figure out why the water in the bathtub would not stop running and it ran for two days! After that, no return of hot water.
I installed, plumbed and did the electrical on my tankless at our lake house. I wish I could show you the install pictures, it came out beautiful! (I did work at Lockheed Skunk 🦨 Works as a structural installer and fuel system technician.) I do the flush once a year. Gas bill has been $6 a month on the low in the summer and $28 on the high in the winter. It is just my wife and I and we just love our tankless! When the hot water heater goes out in our city house, I will be installing TANKLESS!
I installed my tankless 10 years ago by myself and the kit even came with a backup battery system to keep it running while powers out. My water is pretty hard and don’t have a water softener I only have to clean my tankless once every 18 months every 12 months isn’t worth it when there isn’t that much scale although it’s also not my main source of hot water because I use an outdoor wood boiler unit for the hot water and radiant heat during the winter but even still I’m in the country and have a 500lb propane tank that’s hooked up to the tankless system along with a fireplace and shop heater in the garage and that tank only needs filling once a year. These tankless hot water systems nowadays are alot more efficient than the one I have so I find it hard to believe that they are more expensive and need more maintenance than one that’s 10 years old
3 years ago when our hot water heater needed to be replaced, I wanted a tank less water heater. 1. On an older house your going to have major issues. A. You need to larger natural gas pipes B. The exhaust system needs to be replaced from an aluminum pipes to a steel pipes due to the heat generated unless your units outside 2.The down side is the cost of a water heater and if your older than 55 years it’s not worth the cost
Great article. I put a tankless in 2 years ago, have been very happy with it, and my experience bears out everything said here. I was lucky enough to to realize an energy cost savings with the tankless heater; but, mine is a family of only 2 adults, so “endless” hot water wasn’t the temptation for us that it can be for others. The fact that we’re NOT heating water when we don’t need it has been GREAT! The outdoor install was also a big plus for me. I replaced an improperly-vented, outdoor-installed conventional water heater with a properly-vented, outdoor-installed tankless heater and saved the cost of having a roofer penetrate the roof and install a roof jack. Tankless was a win-win for me.
Maybe a gas tankless is O K, but I’m an electrician and I saw one installation where the handyman who installed it connected 3-40A circuits to a condo electric panel which was maxed at 125A. (Add it up) This left only a few amps for everything else. The owner had to turn off 2 of the units to have A/C or to cook. The incomming service could not be increased. With only one unit working, he was left with a trickle of lukewarm water. He had to put a tank type back in. Before you purchase an electric tankless water heater, make sure you have sufficient electric available.
Great article, but I keep finding that people are unaware of certain facts about just how much money is saved by having a Tankless Unit. 1. Tankless Heaters can lasts upwards of 25 years compared to the 6-8 years that the new tank style units are lasting. Average cost of a Tankless installed is $4,500. If you spend $2,000(cost depends on where you live and type of water heater you have) to replace your tank style heater every 6 years for the next 24 years, you will have spent $8,000. Add the energy savings and tax rebates and you will have saved THOUSANDS. 2. In 25 years, when your Tankless Water Heater needs replaced, it will likely cost LESS than it would to replace your tank style heater because all of the plumbing is now there and the unit will just need a quick swap. I would also factor in that the price of the storage type heater has been increasing rapidly over the last few years with no end in sight. 3. Tankless Water Heaters will add 4%-5% to your home value and can help sell your house on average of 43 days faster(Zillow). 4. While MOST Tankless Heaters do need some maintenance, without a water softener, tank style water heaters also require maintenance. Water softeners are a must-have in homes with hard water to extend the life of ALL plumbing fixtures and appliances!
You’ll never recoup the money spent on installing a tankless vs tank type. Initial cost to install plus servicing it once a year (or even every 2 or three years) especially if you put an inline scale filter that has to be changed out every year. Not to mention there are many things or components on tankless that can go out which most plumbing companies will have to order part and return at a later time to replace all the while no hot water… if you like the bells and whistles and have the money to “burn” then go tankless otherwise it’s not a wise investment. If you’d installing it at when building your house it makes a little more sense and I’d recommend learning how to do the service yourself on it since it is simple to do but will cost on average about 300.00 for most professional plumbing companies to do.
You missed what, 6 more noted by commentators – Min flow rate needed to kick on, need to filter inflow water, units will vary flow to suit settings, negatively effecting user satisfactions, cold incoming water as much of country has overwhelms heating capacity, cost and mess of installing bigger gas lines… Instantaneous was invented for warm area limited use hot water supply, ie commercial / institutional that were wasting energy with huge hot water production / storage tanks, and was never intended for highly variable high demand residential throughout nation. What it is is CHEAP when all the above is ignored and developer or GC just slaps one in and tell you you’re the problem, if they pick up phone a all.
Totally disagree about the maintenance costs for tankless units. Have a unit made in Japan. It lasted 25 years. Way longer than a tank system. Never had any maintenance costs. No need to clean it, ever. Your water must be very hard if you need to clean it every 12 months. Also, these units come with temperatures controls. You don’t even use the cold water tap. Just set it to your desired temp and turn on hot. This means you do not need to heat to 60celcius like a tank system, which then gets mixed with cold water back down to the 40celcius for a shower etc. This is much more efficient.
A friend of mine has gone through 3 of these things in the last 15 or so years. I don’t know if he isn’t doing the maintenance or what the deal is, but between his experience and this article, I’m not gonna touch one of these. Unfortunately for him, his house was built with a tankless and where it’s mounted, there isn’t room for a tank unit.
Three none issues to me. I think it was three years before I learned to cleaned my system. The system wasn’t in bad shape, nor was it too hard to flush the system. The number 2 issue mentioned isn’t really an issue, it’s really about conservation, don’t waste water. My soon to be daughter in law was at our house for three weeks and took 25 – 30 min showers, drove me crazy. The 1st issue, was just life, no power for days and your regular tanks will be full of cold water as well.
My unit only uses 5watts of power to run. I use an igloo power pack to fire it up during brown outs. Thanks to your articles I have been cleaning my units for several years. The cleaning is easy. Doing it yourself saves money and you do not have to schedule someone to service on their time. I would like to see a better error code description from the manufacture. A plug removal tool would be nice. Thinking of 3D printing one. I love the units had one put in my old home and have one in my new build. Thanks for your how to articles.
It’s just me in the house, so I don’t use a lot of hot water ever. Plus the water is VERY soft where I live, so the mentioned negatives aren’t really a concern. My current electric tank water heater is 40 years old, and still working perfectly with no scale buildup inside. I’ve never seen any scale buildup in any of the faucets.
Endless supply of WARM water. If you are up north and have a well, these are the last things you want. And don’t even consider one if you don’t have gas, as electrics will draw well over 100 amps. They are, however, a cash cow for plumbers. Customers pay to have this superior technology put in, then pay again to remove it and put in an old style tank that just works.
I’m not a fan of tankless….unless space is an issue. First of all, most people can’t work on these when they quit working…including me and I’m a professional plumber. YUa gotta call the manufacturer…we all know how long that’s gunna take. Second, at full flow the water is not very hot….so you have to adjust your shower valve way over to the hot side…. and if someone else is showering it gets frustrating. Third, only the newer models can produce hot water at a very slow rate (trickle) because older models can’t make a small enough flame…these things are made to heat water instantly at a fast rate…not slow. Tank water heaters last a long time and make HOT water. Hot enough to sanitize things like dishes. Wait till you find out the cost of converting to tankless…I’m a professional plumber and I have a tank water heater….zero issues. I filter the incoming water with a $39.99 filter from home depot. I have soft water cuz my girls won’t go a day without it….and I actually change out my “sacrificial anode rod” inside my water heater every 3-4 years.
No 1, there are tankless gas water heaters on the market that do not rely on electricity to ignite like this one depicted in the article. Others have a PILOT light which once lit, stay alight all the time and provides the ignition to light things up. No 2. the hot water pipes exiting these heaters. MUST be insulated to keep the temperature up especially if the pipe has a long way to go. No 3. Servicing, depending on the quality of the water going thru, HARD water they require servicing every couple of years, and the diaphram within needs checking to ensure it has not been damaged. I find with continual use in Australia and no servicing at all, they last about 8-9 years. The cost of the gas required to operate them, is IMHO not exhorbient. The majority of homes in Australia are fitted with these water heaters. I even use a similar set up for our camping trips.
During days of power outage at my small college in NC, (I was maintenance staff at the time). I ran an extension cord from a 410watt Schumacher inverter from my work van to the 2 rinnai units in the dormitory’s. I did this on a schedule at each dorm so that students could at least have hot showers. The units pull almost no power so I case of blackout I would say you can forgo a generator for hot showers. You might run into food storage issues but at least you can have a nice shower!